


When the Winds of Change Blow

by Mademoisellesnowflake



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Marsac/Aramis - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 18:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12304626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mademoisellesnowflake/pseuds/Mademoisellesnowflake
Summary: Porthos brings home a man who has lived in an abusive relationship. Athos isn't happy at first but warms to the man eventually. What happens when the duo becomes a trio?





	When the Winds of Change Blow

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by a prompt that I saw so long time ago that I've lost it. There is some violence and domestic abuse depicted in the story but it isn't very graphic so I hope it won't trigger anyone.
> 
> Please enjoy the story!

“So, explain me again why you’ve kidnapped the man sitting in our living room?”

Porthos glanced at Aramis – the young man whom his partner had been abusing and who’d been in the self-defence class Porthos had been holding – who was sitting in the living room, staring at nothing while Athos was still angrily looking at Porthos. Porthos had been walking on Pont Neuf when he had noticed Aramis standing near the edge and looking at the water emptily. After talking to Aramis for a bit, he’d decided to take Aramis home, not to the abusive partner who’d hurt Aramis, but home to Athos who was now fuming with rage.

Porthos really should have warned his flatmate.

“It looked like he was going to jump down from that bridge”, Porthos said quietly; Aramis hadn’t said anything after Porthos had led him off Pont Neuf and that unnerved Porthos. “His partner beats him and I’ve been telling him to leave the man but he just won’t! I was afraid he would have killed himself if I didn’t take him with me.”

Athos sighed and ran his hand over his face. He looked at Aramis who hadn’t moved at all from the edge of the sofa where he’d sat after Porthos had said it was alright for him to sit there. His eyes looked so empty and devoid of happiness that Athos couldn’t help but remember how he had been after everything his wife had done to him. He sighed again and looked at Porthos.

“I assume he needs a place to stay in?” he asked and Porthos nodded. “He can stay here. We have an extra room and we can go get his things tomorrow from that partner of his.”

“Thank you, Athos”, Porthos breathed. “I don’t know what I’d done if you hadn’t let him stay…”

“It’s your home too”, Athos said as he left the kitchen and walked to Aramis. He sat down next to the young man and looked at his long hair and dark eyes.

“Aramis?” Athos asked quietly. The young man turned his head to look at Athos with his eyes wide, making Athos think he resembled a captured animal, perhaps a deer.

“My name is Athos”, Athos said slowly, “and that big man who kidnapped you is Porthos but you know him already, don’t you?”

Aramis nodded slowly and Athos gave him a small smile. He noticed Aramis’ hands shaking on his lap.

“Since Porthos has kidnapped you, you can live here if you want to”, Athos explained. “We can go get whatever things you left at your old home tomorrow. Now, are you hungry? We can cook something or order in if you want to.”

“I can cook”, Aramis whispered hastily. “You shouldn’t bother because of me…”

“No, you won’t cook anything tonight”, Athos said and smiled reassuringly. “Porthos kidnapped you so he’ll have to cook to apologise if you don’t want to order in.”

“Hey!” Porthos yelled angrily from the kitchen.

“He saved me”, Aramis whispered.

“He’ll still cook if we won’t order in”, Athos said. “I would just end up burning the food and you deserve better than burnt food on your first night here.”

“Do you have any favourite foods, Aramis?”, Porthos asked from the kitchen. “I can cook anything as long as it’s not a meal for kings.”

“I like pasta carbonara”, Aramis said quietly while staring at his lap. “I’d love to have some of that…”

“Oh, I can do that”, Porthos said. “It’s easy and we even have all the ingredients so it’ll be done soon.”

“Thank you”, Aramis whispered and wouldn’t speak again until they’d eaten.

* * *

“Should we ask d’Artagnan to come help us carry Aramis’ stuff?” Porthos asked quietly on that evening. Aramis was leaning his head on Porthos’ shoulder and dozing off as they sat on the sofa but lifter his head when he heard a familiar name.

“D’Artagnan?” Aramis asked. “Charles d’Artagnan? You know each other ?”

“Yes”, Athos said. “He studied in the same university as I did.”

“They took a course of German together”, Porthos explained, “but their German is horrible.”

“Ach so?” Aramis asked in German and looked at Athos curiously.

“We did”, Athos said. “I failed the course spectacularly but he did a little better. How do you know him?”

“He’s dating my boss”, Aramis said quietly. “He comes to the shop often and sometimes sits on the cloth and tries to annoy me but he’s nice. He covered for me when I started the self-defence course. He was the one who originally told me I should go on one.”

“So he knows about your partner?” Athos asked. Aramis nodded and shuddered.

“Constance found out and told d’Artagnan to talk some sense into me”, Aramis whispered. “He even offered to let me stay at his place if I left Marsac…”

“So his name is Marsac?” Athos asked darkly. Aramis’ eyes widened and he turned to look at Athos.

“He didn’t actually mean to hurt me”, Aramis said hastily. “I’m just so clumsy and he gets angry really easily…”

“Does he ever apologise?” Porthos asked. His eyes were dark with anger but there was also sadness in his expression.

“He –” Aramis began but stopped suddenly. He looked at Porthos and then Athos. “He doesn’t, now that I think of it…”

Porthos sighed and hugged Aramis. Aramis couldn’t really understand why his chest suddenly felt so constricted.

* * *

“So what is it that you two needed me for on a Saturday?” was the first thing Aramis heard when he woke up on the sofa.

The next thing he heard was Charles d’Artagnan calling his name. Strong arms pulled Aramis into a hug before Aramis could sit up.

“Oh god, you’re alive!” d’Artagnan whispered, his voice wet for some odd reason. “Constance found your note and called me and almost cried her eyes out… We’d thought you’d died, you idiot!”

“Damn”, Aramis muttered when the meaning of d’Artagnan’s words really sunk in. “I have to call Constance…”

“First of all, you’ll have breakfast”, Athos said as he walked into the living room with a coffee cup in his hand. “Take whatever you like from the kitchen; you live here now.”

“Oh”, Aramis said dumbly. “I will. Thank you.”

“I’ll call Constance”, d’Artagnan said and stood up, wiping his eyes. Aramis frowned at the gesture; why would d’Artagnan cry if someone as unimportant as Aramis had died?

Aramis stood up and walked into the kitchen. He picked up two pieces of toast, spread some butter on them and covered them with ham and cucumber slices that Athos had cut the previous night. Athos had told Aramis that he’d started cutting ham, cheese and cucumber as well as other vegetables on evenings to make sure that he and Porthos would remember to eat breakfast because he’d noticed how grumpy Porthos became if he didn’t eat breakfast. After all, Athos had said, a good breakfast makes you instantly happier.

Athos had been right; Aramis instantly felt steadier after his breakfast. He had never eaten anything that good while living with Marsac – not that he’d eaten much anyway; Marsac had constantly criticised Aramis’ weight so he’d eaten less and less.

“Everything alright in here?” Porthos asked as he walked into the kitchen. When Aramis nodded, he said, “Good. We’ll go get your things from Marsac and then Constance will come over. She was so relieved to find out that you were alive that she cried.”

“Oh”, Aramis mumbled. “I’ll have to apologise. And then I’ll have to call papá to let him know I’m alive…”

“You do that”, Porthos said and patted Aramis’ shoulder. “You do that.”

There was soft tingling on the spot Porthos had patted Aramis even hours afterwards.

* * *

Porthos hadn’t known what to expect when they went to the apartment where Aramis had lived with Marsac but a well-aimed punch at Marsac’s gut from Athos hadn’t really been on the list. Athos’ eyes had begun flaming with rage when Marsac had started yelling at Aramis and hitting him and suddenly he’d been in between the two taller men and Marsac was doubled in pain.

“You leave him alone”, Athos growled as d’Artagnan helped Aramis away from Marsac. “We’re taking his things and leaving. You won’t get anywhere near him again.”

“But he loves me”, Marsac said and looked at Aramis, smiling sweetly. “You love me, don’t you, darling?”

“Not anymore”, Aramis said quietly, his whole frame shaking. “I might have loved you once but I lost all the love I held for you the moment you first hit me. After that I was only afraid of you.”

“I see”, Marsac said, his eyes darkening. He picked up a rosary from the table he was standing next to and smiled cruelly. He ran his fingers over the wooden beads as he said, “then you will need no more divine protection. After all, you seem to have new protectors.”

Aramis’ eyes widened and his face paled as Marsac pulled, ripping apart the string that held the rosary together. The beads fell on the floor and Marsac dropped the remnants of the once beautiful rosary from his hands. Aramis inhaled sharply as he fell on his knees and began collecting the pieces of his already frail faith from the wooden floor. Marsac snorted and turned to leave the room.

“Take his things and him out of my sight”, he said. “Whatever you leave here, I’ll burn.”

“Oh, we will”, Porthos said as he knelt next to Aramis and helped him collect the pieces of the broken rosary.

Aramis soon stood up and walked to the kitchen cupboards and began collecting his dishes: mugs with funny texts, a whole set of very old china and normal glasses, knives, forks and plates. He wrapped them in newspaper with the help of Athos and Porthos while d’Artagnan placed them in one of the boxes Porthos had gotten them that morning. He also took a few kettles, frying pans and cake tins. He then moved on to the living room where he took a laptop bag and a blanket with him. They then walked into the bedroom where Aramis took his clothes, alarm clock and some photos. They then returned to the hallway where Aramis took his books from the bookshelf as well as a camera and some wires. He placed them in a backpack he’d taken from the bedroom and sighed,

“Was that all?” Porthos asked.

“Yes”, Aramis whispered. “It was all. Let’s go.”

“Aramis”, Marsac called when Aramis was at the door. “No one will ever love you like I did.”

“I’m counting on that”, Aramis said and closed the door. When he saw d’Artagnan’s questioning expression, he said, “Marsac never loved me.”

D’Artagnan smiles sadly at Aramis and walked to Porthos’ car with him. Aramis loaded his things into the trunk and sat on the backseat with d’Artagnan. He wouldn’t say a word during the ride and would only look out of the window forlornly.

When the four arrived at Athos and Porthos’ flat – which was technically Athos’ but he insisted that it was Porthos’ as much as his – d’Artagnan called Constance again, to let her know she could come over. She came over fairly quickly and soon Athos had to open the door for the raging whirlwind that was Constance Bonacieux. She almost barrelled inside as soon as the door was open and Athos managed to stop her only barely.

“Please calm down first”, Athos said. “His nerves are really strained. I think he’s on the verge of a breakdown.”

“Please tell me he dumped that bag of dirt”, Constance whispered.

“He did”, Athos said calmly. “If Marsac ever tries to bother Aramis again, he’ll have to go through me and Porthos first.”

“Good”, Constance said and took a deep breath. “Can I see him now?”

“Yes, he’s in the living room with Porthos and d’Artagnan”, Athos said. “Please be gentle with him; I fear not enough people have been gentle with him in years…”

“I will”, Constance said and walked into the living room, greeting Aramis as she walked in.

“Oh, Constance, I’m so sorry!” Aramis breathed and stood up as he noticed his employer in the room. “I don’t know what went into me; I only wanted the pain to end! God, I’m so sorry, Constance!”

“Come here, Aramis”, Constance said and hugged Aramis. “Marsac hurt you in a way that’s completely unforgivable. What you tried to do was just a reaction to that. I’m just so glad you didn’t go through with it in the end…”

“I’m so sorry, Constance”, Aramis whispered. “Can… can I still come to work on Monday?”

“Naturally!” Constance said. “You still work there, Aramis; of course you can come.”

“Thank you”, Aramis whispered. “I… I wasn’t sure what I wrote on that note yesterday… I thought I’d accidentally quite my job and you’d have to find a new assistant tailor.”

“I’d still let you come even if you’d quit”, Constance said. “The shop wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“And I would rather miss the resident goblin of my girlfriend’s shop”, d’Artagnan said as he hugged Constance and Aramis from the side.

“Excuse you!” Constance snorted. “You very well know that Aramis is our resident elf. We’ve had this conversation before, you know.”

Aramis laughed softly at Constance and d’Artagnan as they quarrelled. The sound soothed his nerves; he had been feeling strangely on edge ever since he’d woken up that morning.

“And please remember that you’re loved”, d’Artagnan said. “Properly loved. Not like Marsac hurt you but actually loved as yourself. You’re the best as you, not as someone else.”

“Really?” Aramis asked with a small voice. “Do you really mean that?”

Aramis’ voice was so small that Porthos’ heart physically hurt. He stood up and motioned for d’Artagnan to move so he could hug Aramis himself.

“Of course you are”, Porthos whispered. “We love you; that’s why we wanted to help you. We may not know much of you yet but from what I’ve seen, you seem like a great person. It would be wrong if there was absolutely no one in the world who loved you.”

Aramis’ breath hitched as he began crying quietly. Porthos sighed and hugged him tighter – he had known Aramis would have to let go of the pain sooner or later and Porthos was secretly very relieved that Aramis could still cry so honestly.

“Shh, Aramis, it’s alright”, Constance whispered. “You’ll be alright, sweetheart; we’re all here for you.”

Aramis shook his head against Porthos’ chest. Porthos began making soothing noises into Aramis’ ear, hoping that Aramis would feel even a little better. He was slowly rocking Aramis back and forth, remembering how rocking back and forth had helped him when he’d been feeling terrible when he’d been younger.

“It’ll be alright eventually”, Porthos said. “I believe in you and I’m sure you can recover from all this. What Constance said is right; we’ll all be here for you. If you feel like falling down, we’ll catch you, I promise.”

“It hurts”, Aramis whispered into Porthos’ chest. “Hurts so much…”

“Oh, I can believe it does”, Porthos said. “But we’ll help you through it and on your feet again.”

Aramis nodded slowly and sniffled. Porthos’ heart swelled with pride as he realised that Aramis had finally accepted their help. He tightened the embrace as Aramis sobbed quietly. Aramis clutched Porthos’ shirt as Athos walked next to them and began rubbing comforting circles around Aramis’ back.

“I know the pain won’t go away in an instant”, Athos said, “but it will go away, eventually. You go on your own pace until you feel like your own person again. We’ll be here to support you as long as you need us to and even longer.”

“Thank you”, Aramis whispered breathlessly. “I… I’ll calm down in a minute, I promise. I just… I really can’t right now…”

“It’s alright”, Athos murmured. “It’s better to get everything negative out at once.”

Aramis whimpered as Athos squeezed his shoulder. Porthos was still making soothing noises and rubbing comforting circles on Aramis’ back. When Aramis finally calmed down and pulled away from the embrace, his eyes were red and puffy and he was stubbornly avoiding eye contact.

“Aramis”, Athos said quietly, “did Marsac ever hurt you for showing your feelings?”

Aramis nodded slowly and Athos cursed. He sat down on the sofa and ran his hand through his hair.

“That rotten bastard should burn in hell for what he did to you”, Athos muttered. “Not being able to show your feelings or cry… that fucks up your head. You should never have had to go through that.”

“It’s fine, Athos”, Aramis said quietly and sat next to Athos. “I have you now…”

“That doesn’t make it alright”, Constance said as she took Aramis’ hand in hers. “You are worth so much more than that.”

Aramis nodded and sighed. He suddenly looked up and said, “I need a haircut.”

“Well, then you’re lucky I’m here”, Constance said. “I used to cut my brothers’ hair all the time when I was younger. I can cut yours too.”

Aramis gave her a small smile and nodded eagerly. Constance then proceeded to walk Aramis to one of the chairs at the dining table and wrapped a cloth around his shoulders. She then began cutting his hair skilfully and well. Soon his hair was few inches shorter and it curled around his head nicely.

“That looks nice on you”, Porthos said. “Shorter hair suits you. Why were you keeping it so long?”

“Marsac said it looked better long”, Aramis explained quietly. “I never really liked it that long, to be honest.”

“Well, you really look better with shorter hair”, Porthos said. “Brings out your face and eyes more. I like it.”

Aramis blushed and looked down to hide a small smile on his face. Constance giggled and helped Aramis up and gave him a little mirror so he could see how he looked with his new hairdo.

“I like it”, Aramis mumbled. “Thanks, Constance.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart”, Constance said and hugged him. “I’m just so glad you finally left that bag of dirt. He never deserved someone as good as you.”

Aramis returned the hug, unable to answer. Suddenly feeling so loved made him feel weird but also oddly happy. He only hoped the love would last; he didn’t want to end up living like he’d lived with Marsac.

Later that afternoon when Aramis called his father, Athos was sitting near him and when talking seemed to become too much for Aramis, Athos took the phone and explained Aramis’ father what had happened and asked him if he could come over the next day so Aramis could meet them. Monsieur d’Herblay agreed immediately as he hadn’t seen Aramis in years because of Marsac.

“Thank you”, Aramis whispered when Athos ended the call. “I don’t think I could have done that alone.”

“That’s why you have me and Porthos now”, Athos said, smiling softly.

* * *

Aramis hadn’t really prepared himself mentally for the fact that his mother would be almost angry after not seeing each other in years. At first Aramis was excitedly waiting to see his parents again but when he heard his mother’s angry voice talking about how angry she was at Marsac for hurting him, he suddenly recoiled, shielding his face with his arms.

“René?” Oscar – his father – asked softly. “It’s alright; it’s just your mother and I. We won’t hurt you, I promise. Your mother is very worried but won’t hurt you; she’s angry at the man who hurt you and kept you away from us.”

Aramis slowly lowered his arms and saw the worried expressions of his parents who had barely had time to take off their outwear. Diana slowly walked to Aramis and then hugged him. Aramis bit his lower lip, trying not to have another breakdown in just two days.

“Oh, thank heavens you’re alright”, Diana whispered. “We got your message and called Sofia so she could go check up on you and when you weren’t home… we thought you’d really gone through with it, we thought you’d died…”

“I didn’t”, Aramis whispered. “I’m still here, thanks to Porthos. I’d be in the bottom of the Seine by now if he hadn’t taken me here…”

“And for that I’m eternally grateful”, Diana whispered. “I’m so happy to finally see you again…”

“I’m sorry for not coming over to see you and papá”, Aramis whispered with tears in his eyes.

“It’s alright”, Oscar said, hugging Aramis as well. “We know what Marsac did to you. We know it was him who wouldn’t let you see us.”

Aramis but back a sob as Oscar continued reassuring him. _To hell with this_ , Aramis thought, _I can’t not cry._

Aramis buried his face on Diana’s shoulder as sobs shook his frame. Oscar sighed and hugged him tighter while Athos and Porthos sat in the kitchen, silently following the exchange between parents and their son.

“I called your sisters yesterday after you’d called me”, Oscar said when Aramis had calmed down. “Sofia asked me to tell you that she wants to see you and that you should call her. Mercedes said that she’s waiting to see you on Christmas. In fact, your new friends can come over on Christmas as well if they want to.”

Aramis smiled as he thought about Athos and Porthos at the family Christmas dinner. He’d definitely have to invite them over.

* * *

Weeks went by and at some point, Athos realised that Aramis had become such an important part of his life that he was one of the first people to appear in his mind when he thought about the important people in his life. They were having some afternoon tea with Aramis when a picture caught Athos’ eye in the newspaper and he immediately thought of Aramis. He showed the picture to him, making Aramis laugh heartily.

Athos realised he hadn’t heard Aramis laugh like that before.

“You’re laughing”, Athos said quietly.

“Yes”, Aramis managed to say between his laughs. “It’s kind of obvious.”

“You haven’t laughed like that since you came here”, Athos said. “You feel… less skittish.”

“Do I?” Aramis asked, still smiling slightly. “I… I guess I do feel a little better nowadays…”

“That’s good”, Athos said and grabbed Aramis’ hand. “That’s great.”

* * *

Christmas was drawing near and Aramis decided to ask Athos and Porthos if they wanted to come over to stay at his parents’ over Christmas. Porthos immediately agreed to come while Athos needed some persuasion before he caved in and agreed to come as well. Aramis smiled and went to call his father while Athos and Porthos stayed in the kitchen where they’d made some cocoa. Athos looked at Porthos’ fond expression when he noticed that there was also longing in the way Porthos looked at Aramis in the living room.

“You love him”, Athos whispered. “You love Aramis.”

“I suppose I do”, Porthos whispered, still smiling fondly at Aramis. “Probably have been ever since he first came to that self-defence class…”

“Are you going to do anything about it?” Athos asked quietly, looking how Aramis swayed and walked around the living room while talking with monsieur d’Herblay.

“Not yet”, Porthos said. “He’s still so jumpy… I don’t want to pressure him into anything yet.”

“Just don’t wait too long or someone else might take him”, Athos said. “I’d much rather have it be you than someone who would hurt him; he’s too kind for his own good.”

“I know”, Porthos whispered. “I know.”

* * *

Porthos woke abruptly to a cry from Aramis’ room. He got up from his bed and slowly walked to Aramis’ door where he could listen what was going on. He could hear Aramis whimpering and soon he heard Aramis begging for someone to stop. Porthos quietly opened the door and saw Aramis asleep on his bed, trashing around as he was in the clutches of a nightmare. Porthos walked to the bed and began trying to wake Aramis by gently shaking his shoulder.

“Wake up, Aramis; it’s a nightmare”, Porthos said and Aramis’ eyes flew open. He looked at Porthos, his eyes still wide like a trapped animal’s.

“Oh god”, Aramis breathed. He grabbed Porthos’ hand as his eyes began watering.

“It was just a nightmare, Aramis”, Porthos whispered. “You’re safe here. Do you want to talk about it?”

“It was Marsac”, Aramis whispered. “For some reason, I was back with him and he told me that he’d hurt you and Athos if I left… He just… he kept beating me and wouldn’t stop; I thought I’d die…”

“Shh, you’re safe here”, Porthos whispered. “Is it alright if I lie down next to you?”

“Yes”, Aramis breathed and scooted over so Porthos could lie down and hold Aramis.

“I have to tell you something, Aramis”, Porthos whispered. “I love you. I’m not sure when it started but I love you and I really want you to know that. You don’t have to do anything about it; I don’t want to force you into something so soon after Marsac.”

Aramis’ expression morphed from surprise to one of happiness as Porthos finished what he was saying. Aramis laughed softly and kissed Porthos on his lips before Porthos could continue.

“I love you”, Aramis whispered. “I love you; I’ve loved you ever since I began that self-defence class. I knew it was wrong when I was still with Marsac but… Oh god, I love you, Porthos. I was worried you didn’t even like men…”

“Oh”, Porthos breathed rather dumbly. “Oh! I… This is amazing.”

Porthos laughed softly as he kissed Aramis’ forehead. Aramis smiled softly as he grabbed Porthos’ hand.

Things weren’t perfect yet but it was a start; they would be happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always welcomed, loved and appreciated!


End file.
